


Childhood on Jakku

by Skyedestiny



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Backstory, Childhood, Gen, Imagination, reference to Rey's Survival Guide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 17:32:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10168157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyedestiny/pseuds/Skyedestiny
Summary: Growing up on Jakku was never easy.  Looking back on it, Rey sometimes can't even imagine how she did it.  But there was no alternative.  When something must be done, when survival is at stake, one finds a way.  Here's some of how she managed.





	

**Author's Note:**

> [Originally posted on March 15, 2016.]
> 
> Requested by tumblr user historymiss! She wanted to see some of Rey's childhood, and what she was like when she was younger. After reading Rey's Survival Guide, where it's mentioned that the helmet she puts on at the beginning of TFA, used to belong to a Rebel captain named Dosmit Raeh, I thought this might be something that might've been a frequent theme.

It’s another day of adventure as Rebellion pilot, _Captain Dosmit Raeh_ , and her young faithful sidekick, _explorer Rey_ , scour the wreckages of the Ship Graveyard for survivors in need of rescue! The dunes of Jakku are treacherous, filled with dangerous wildlife and unseemly villains, but our heroes are always here to see things through in order to help those in need.

Standing before a hulking Star Destroyer, Dosmit removes her helmet. She is a tall woman with bright eyes, whose long, brown hair flows elegantly in the desert breeze. Rey, a child, stands at about the height of the captain’s thigh. 

Her small stature does nothing to dampen her bravery. She stands, ready to jump to action, a foot ahead of Dosmit herself!

“Scans are indicating signs of life.” Dosmit, face intense and stony in its seriousness, looks up from the device in her palm, staring down the massive ship as if it is nothing more than an adversary of equal stature. “Someone in there needs our help.”

Rey mirrors the captain’s expression, holding a determined fist up to her chest. “Then let’s go.”

The behemoth _should_ be intimidating in its size, in the intensity of the darkness that rests within it, for, as our heroes travel deeper and deeper into the wreckage, the harsh light of the desert is all but snuffed out. But they are unafraid. They have done this before, and when captain and explorer stand together, there is nothing that they cannot overcome.

The mission is, ultimately, an overwhelming success, and Dosmit and Rey stare smilingly down at the faces of the three captives they were able to free from the ship’s inner workings. 

“Thank you,” gasps one of the Rebel prisoners. “Thank you both.”

With a gentle hand, Rey offers them water from her canteen. Dosmit smiles triumphantly, hands on her hips. “There is no need.”

“Being able to save you’s the best reward there is,” adds Rey.

There is a clanging then. The sound of a fist rapping on metal. “Child!! Hurry up in there!” 

Suddenly, Dosmit is gone. The space is much, much smaller, and Rey blinks, holding three small ship components in her hand. She stares down at them. Still, in a short time, her smile returns. This is a job well done, a rescue completed.

Rey’s face pops out of the panel in the TIE fighter, sooty and covered in spots of grease. “Finished!”

The Caridan shakes her head. “You are slower than usual today.” She was beginning to suspect that something had gone wrong. It is not unusual that the innards of a ship could become overheated in the sweltering sunlight. (However it was not concern for the child’s safety that drove her interruption, but rather concern for the salvage Rey was meant to retrieve.) “Show me what you’ve got.”

Scooting herself a little bit further out of the hole, Rey lifts her hands, showing off the components she had been able to detach.

“Good, good. Mostly in good shape,” says the Caridan, in appraisal. Carefully, she takes each item from Rey and adds them to a sack that rests at her feet. She leaves Rey to extract herself the rest of the way from the ship. The Caridan turns to her salvaging partner. “I suppose we can get moving on the rest of this one.”

The only answer she receives is a thoughtful “Hmm.”

Still, despite the blasé normalcy of the situation, Rey stares down at the sack, which now safely contains the three parts, with a smile. To her, three good civilians were just saved and are waiting to be on their way home.

**Author's Note:**

> If you read at least some of the narration the the voice of the narrator from The Clone Wars, you've just made my day.


End file.
